Manchester Indian Restaurant Guide
Dishoom, Spinningfields
Dishoom Manchester is built within a former Freemasons’ Hall on Bridge Street — and through the restaurant, the team hopes to share a glimpse of Freemasonry in Bombay, where the Lodge Rising Star of Western India was founded in 1843 with pioneering member Manockjee Cursetjee, whose portrait hangs watchfully on the wall of Bombay’s Freemasons’ Hall today. The setting is extraordinary: stained glass windows, soaring ceilings, architectural grandeur — and within it, Dishoom serves the Bombay comfort food that has made the brand one of the most beloved Indian restaurant groups in the UK.
The House Black Daal — slow-cooked for 24 hours over a low flame until deeply rich and smoky — is the dish that has become synonymous with Dishoom across all its locations, and the Manchester version is as good as any. The Lamb Raan and the Chicken Berry Britannia are Manchester-specific dishes that reward those who look beyond the classics, and the all-day breakfast naan — a grilled, freshly made flatbread stuffed with eggs, chilli and coriander — is one of the most satisfying morning meals available in the city centre. Waiting staff were incredibly attentive and managed the floor incredibly well, and the cocktail programme — including the signature Irani Chai Sour — makes Dishoom as credible a destination for drinks as dinner.
Dishoom — 32 Bridge Street, Manchester M3 3BT | dishoom.com/manchester
Akbar's, Liverpool Road
As anyone who has ever walked down Liverpool Road will confirm, Akbar’s is one of the most popular Indian restaurants in the city centre — with a no booking policy for tables of six or less, you’re likely to always have to wait a short while for a table in this busy Manchester venue, possibly longer at the weekends. But it is worth it. Akbar’s has gained a reputation for its high quality cuisine and vibrant atmosphere — with the emphasis on the quality of food equalled only by the importance attached to friendly, efficient service in an exciting, bustling atmosphere, and staff who pride themselves on the personal attention given to each table, making diners feel part of the Akbar family.
The menu is exactly what you’d want from a great Indian kitchen — starters including seekh kebabs and special veg pakora, followed by old school curries such as dopiazas and rogan josh. The showstopper is the vast, hanging naan breads perfect for sharing. The lamb shank slow-cooked in Punjabi spices and the seafood balti are two of the most celebrated mains, and the tandoor-baked breads — blistered, pillowy and arriving at the table still steaming — are consistently cited as some of the finest in Manchester.
Akbar’s — 73–83 Liverpool Road, Manchester M3 4NQ | akbars.co.uk
Mowgli Street Food, Corn Exchange
Mowgli Manchester in the Corn Exchange is a masterclass in atmospheric design — blending the building’s Edwardian heritage with soaring glass ceilings, iconic indoor swing seats, and the golden glow of a thousand fairy lights — designed to transport diners from the rainy streets to the heart of a sun-drenched Indian marketplace. Founded by Nisha Katona — barrister, TV presenter, cookbook author, and MBE — Mowgli serves the kind of food Indians eat at home and on their streets, inspired by the city of Varanasi, with vibrant street plates, tiffins filled with rich curries, and a balance of meat, vegetarian and vegan dishes, every recipe made in-house using fresh ingredients and real spices.
The Chat Bomb — crisp puff breads filled with chickpeas, spiced yoghurt and tamarind — is the most immediate expression of what Mowgli does best: bold, layered flavours that hit several senses at once. The Tiffin tins, the Bunny Chow curry bread bowl, and the slow-cooked Lamb Anise are among the most consistently praised dishes, and the Fenugreek Kissed Fries are perhaps the most addictive side dish served at any Indian restaurant in the city.
Mowgli Street Food — Corn Exchange, Exchange Square, Manchester M4 3TR | mowglistreetfood.com
Bundobust, Piccadilly
Bundobust Piccadilly is one of Manchester’s best kept secrets — though that would discount the fact that most of the city knows where to find this subterranean street food institution, because it made such an impact after opening its doors. Situated beneath the bustling chaos of Piccadilly Gardens, this is one of the finest places in town for exotic small plates and crisp pints of beer, brewed just across the way at the company’s larger Oxford Road site. Opened at Christmas 2016, word quickly reached Jay Rayner and his Observer review sent the Bundo story to Desi new heights in February 2017 — and the basement beer hall has been one of Manchester’s most celebrated Indian restaurants ever since.
Once underground, customers find a lively open-plan basement serving vegetarian Indian chaats, dhals, fafda and a number of Desi sweet shop and dhaba favourites — okra fries, paneer tikka and aloo dhal kachori in the farsan section, saucy and spicy shaaks like raghda pethis, paneer kadai and chole saag, and a serious line in Indian-influenced butties packing eastern flavours into a western staple. The Bundo Chaat — described by one reviewer as probably one of the best reinvented Indian dishes they have ever eaten and a MUST at Bundobust — is the dish the kitchen is most celebrated for. Bundobust pairs vibrant and legitimate Indian food with modern, forward-thinking craft beer from its own Bundobust Brewery, open until late daily, making it as much a destination for craft beer as for food. For a completely original Indian dining experience at one of the best prices on this list, Bundobust is unmissable.
Bundobust — 61 Piccadilly, Manchester M1 2AG | bundobust.com/locations/manchester
Indian Tiffin Room, First Street
Indian Tiffin Room at First Street offers an amalgamation of various regional dishes very popular in different parts of India — freshly made to order from fresh ingredients, differing from the way traditional Indian restaurants cook their food. The interiors are enhanced with neon and quirky décor, the varied menu includes dosas, curries, Indo-Chinese recipes, and meat-free dishes, children’s meals are available, and the restaurant caters for large groups alongside a cocktail bar serving original Indian-inspired mixes. The First Street location — next to HOME arts centre, close to the Mancunian Way and well served by public transport — makes it one of the most accessible Indian restaurants in Manchester for visitors coming from outside the city centre.
The street food section of the menu is where the kitchen is at its most distinctive: aloo tikki chaat, papdi chaat, pani puri and samosa chaat are prepared with the kind of care and flavour balance that makes Indian street food cooking genuinely difficult to replicate well. The Cheadle flagship opened first and established the restaurant’s national reputation — and the First Street Manchester site brings the same commitment to authentic regional Indian street food, dosas and thali to the city centre.
Indian Tiffin Room — 2 Isabella Banks Street, First Street, Manchester M15 4RL | indiantiffinroom.com/manchester
Lily's Vegetarian Indian Restaurant, Ashton-under-Lyne
The family business from which Lily’s was founded started in 1972 by husband and wife Mr PG Sachdev and Mrs Lilawati Sachdev — PG lovingly calling his wife Lily, after whom the restaurant is named. The Lily’s team have a huge passion for food, sourcing experienced chefs from all over the different regions of India, with everything freshly made so that all the flavours you taste are as if you were actually visiting India. The restaurant has been selected in the Good Food Guide for multiple consecutive years and won the Best Vegetarian Offering award at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival in 2018, the Best Neighbourhood Restaurant at the same festival in 2019, and has been the winner of Best Vegetarian Restaurant in Greater Manchester awarded by Manchester Evening News.
The Punjabi samosas — described repeatedly by reviewers as the finest they have ever eaten anywhere — are the dish that defines Lily’s for most first-time visitors, and the street food chaat section of the menu is among the most authentically executed of any Indian restaurant in the Greater Manchester area. The fully vegetarian menu spans starters, curries, thalis, street food, and Indian sweets displayed at the counter — all prepared without meat, but with a depth and range that makes the absence of it entirely irrelevant.
Lily’s Vegetarian Indian Restaurant — 85 Oldham Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, OL6 7DF | lilysindianvegetarian.co.uk
Arnero, Sackville Street
Arnero on Sackville Street specialises in dishes from northern India, with authentic, well-presented food served in a contemporary dining space that also boasts a covered terrace. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11am, it is one of the most consistently accessible Indian restaurants in Manchester city centre for both lunch and dinner — and the covered terrace gives it a flexibility that makes it a strong year-round choice for outdoor dining. The menu draws specifically on the Punjabi and North Indian culinary traditions, with tandoor-cooked meats and breads at its heart and a selection of curries and biryanis built around carefully sourced spices and slow-cooked technique.
The Lamb Chops — marinated in yoghurt, ginger and a blend of aromatic spices and cooked in the tandoor until the outside is slightly charred and the inside still tender — are the most praised dish on the menu, and the Dal Makhani, simmered overnight with black lentils and finished with a generous hand of butter and cream, is the side dish most likely to make you order an extra portion of naan. The Sackville Street location — close to the Gay Village, Manchester Central, and a short walk from Piccadilly Station — makes Arnero one of the most practically located Indian restaurants in the city centre, and one of the most underappreciated. For polished North Indian cooking in a relaxed, well-designed space, Arnero consistently delivers.
Arnero — 25 Sackville Street, Manchester M1 3LZ | arnero.co.uk
Zouk, Chester Street
Zouk Tea Bar and Grill is a halal restaurant that specialises in Indian and Pakistani recipes — serving vibrant dishes from all over the Indian subcontinent, accompanied by lively entertainment and a bright and bustling setting, with halal-friendly fusion roasts at weekends and cooking classes and events taking place throughout the year. The Chester Street restaurant sits in The Quadrangle, making it a natural choice for a meal close to Manchester Central and the city’s conference district, and the menu’s range — from classic Indian curries and Pakistani grills to fusion weekend roasts and special event menus — gives it a versatility that most Indian restaurants in Manchester can’t match.
The mixed grill platter — a sizzling spread of tandoori chicken, seekh kebab, lamb chops and naan — is the communal dish that tables return for most reliably, and the Karahi dishes — prepared in the traditional Pakistani style with tomatoes, whole spices and fresh ginger — are among the most authentic preparations of this classic on any Indian restaurant menu in the city. Cooking classes also take place at Zouk, which adds a further dimension to a restaurant that is already one of the most multifaceted in Manchester’s Indian dining scene. For a vibrant, halal-certified Indian and Pakistani meal that covers the full range of the subcontinent’s cooking with real authority, Zouk is the most comprehensive choice on this list.
Zouk — The Quadrangle, Chester Street, Manchester M1 5QS | zoukteabar.co.uk
